The functional vessels of human and animal bodies, such as blood vessels and ducts, occasionally weaken or even rupture. For example, the aortic wall can weaken, resulting in an aneurysm, or it may develop a tear in one of the layers of the aortic wall resulting in an aortic dissection. One common surgical intervention for weakened, aneurysmal or ruptured passageways or ducts involves the introduction of a compliant balloon into the damaged blood vessel.
One type of surgical intervention utilizing the insertion of a balloon into the patient's vasculature is Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA), often referred to simply as angioplasty, for opening up a blocked blood vessel. This procedures involves the insertion of a balloon catheter through the vasculature and to the desired location of the blockage. The balloon is inflated and deflated at the location of the blockage, thereby opening up the blood vessel.
Another type of surgical intervention involving balloons is a procedure where a balloon catheter is introduced toward a blood vessel, such as the aorta, to repair a dissection that has occurred. In this procedure, a compliant balloon is introduced to a location adjacent the tear in the vessel wall, and the balloon is inflated to block blood flow through the “true” lumen of the blood vessel, allowing the filling/thrombosis of the “false” lumen.
In many cases, however, the damaged or defected portion of the vasculature may include a branch vessel branching from the main vessel or may be near one of these branch vessels. For example, in the case of the abdominal aorta, there are at least four major branch vessels, including the celiac, mesenteric, and two renal arteries, as well as other vessels, leading to various other body organs.
Thus, in the case of a vessel blockage, it can be difficult to open up the blockage near the branch vessel or in the branch vessel itself with a traditional balloon, and it may be undesirable to inflate a balloon across an opening of a branch vessel to repair a blockage in a main vessel. In the case of a vessel dissection, inflating the balloon across a branch vessel opening may not effectively block the true lumen.